China Is Quadrupling Its Nuclear Arsenal

Dongfeng-41 nuclear missiles in a military parade
Xinhua/Xia Yifang via Getty Images

China Is Quadrupling Its Nuclear Arsenal

China may quadruple its nuclear arsenal by 2030. The United States Department of Defense warned in its annual report on November 3 that China “likely intends to have at least 1,000 warheads by 2030.” It also showed China is now capable of delivering nuclear missiles from land, sea and air—a triple threat known as the “nuclear triad.”

China has made other worrying developments to its military in recent months. On July 27, it became the first nation to fly a hypersonic glide vehicle (hgv) around the world. The hgv travels at five times the speed of sound and can be maneuvered to avoid air defenses. The highest-ranking military officer in the United States, Gen. Mark Milley, described the test as “very close” to a “Sputnik moment,” referring to the 1957 Soviet Union launch of the world’s first artificial satellite. “We’re witnessing one of the largest shifts in geostrategic power that the world has ever experienced,” Milley warned.

But this shift is not earthbound. In April, the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community said, “Beijing is working to match or exceed U.S. capabilities in space to gain the military, economic and prestige benefits that Washington has accrued from space leadership.”

The Defense Department’s report earlier this month confirmed that China “continues to strengthen its military space capabilities, despite its public stance against the weaponization of space.” It emphasized the huge strides China made in space exploration in 2020, such as putting over 70 spacecraft in orbit, becoming the third country to launch a reusable space plane, and completing a satellite navigational system that will reduce China’s dependence on America’s global positioning system. It would appear China, unlike most Western nations, is not preoccupied with cutting carbon emissions.

The Department of Defense also said that China “will seek to develop a military by midcentury that is equal to—or in some cases superior to—the U.S. military and that of any other great power that Beijing views as a threat to its sovereignty, security and development interests.”

In March, the Biden administration released the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, a 24-page report intended to “convey President [Joe] Biden’s vision for how America will engage with the world” and “provide guidance … as the administration begins work on a National Security Strategy.” The report identifies China as “the only competitor potentially capable of … mount[ing] a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system.” It then describes the strategy our national security will depend on for the next four years.

What does this strategy include?

Not once did the document mention the U.S. Navy, Space Force or Air Force. Apparently those are not important for our national security. Rather, the priority of our defense strategy—a key issue mentioned 14 times—is climate change.

While China prepares to fight America, America is fighting carbon emissions.

The Trumpet has long watched China’s military rise. Our Trends article on the topic states, “The Trumpet forecasts that China will continue to grow as a formidable power, combining its strength with Russia.”

This is something we have been warning about for decades. Our predecessor magazine, the Plain Truth, warned in December 1962: “The petty jealousies between Moscow and [Beijing] are not deterring either from their joint goal: world conquest.”

At the time that was written, the world’s superpowers were the United States and the Soviet Union. That same year, the Cold War reached one of its hottest points—the Cuban Missile Crisis. The following decades brought an arms race between the U.S. and the ussr. The United States responded to the Soviet military buildup with a buildup of its own, which led to the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. The rise of an Asian power bloc that would overpower the United States seemed unlikely at that time. So how did the Plain Truth know it was coming?

China’s rise was foretold in Bible prophecy. Isaiah 23 speaks of an economic alliance called the “mart of nations.” This alliance includes Chittim, an ancient name for China. (For proof, read our article “Is China in the Bible?”)

The Bible also speaks of the kings of the east, who have an army of 200 million men (Revelation 16:12; 9:16). China will most certainly be a part of this massive army.

While China’s push toward military dominance looks like bad news for America, it will ultimately lead to the best news the world has ever heard. To learn more, read our booklets Russia and China in Prophecy and Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door,’ by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry.